Who Are You?

This is my last art journal entry for 2011... and is currently still the last entry. Yeah, yeah... I'm frustrated about it too. Ever since I started going to the gym I feel like I have no time for anything else (probably because I'm too tired after the workouts LOL). I've been putting off my art and other matters. But things are going to go back to normal soon (I hope) and after I rearrange some things, I can finally divide my focus with the myriad of things I left hanging.

This was the result of going through my box of mementos from my high school and college years. I came across some letters which were given to me during retreats and those papers that were passed around the class where you had to write down something to describe the person whose name appears on top of the paper. Well, in my case it was full of "smart", "quiet", "kind", etc. Though I don't discount that I may have given off that vibe then, I was  a conduct awardee after all, I realized that it was a bit superficial. Was it my classmates' fault for not digging deeper or was it my fault that I didn't open up myself to them more?

Or maybe this was all just a result of not knowing who I was at that time either. How could they know when I didn't even know myself? 

To tell the truth, after all these years I still haven't quite figured it out yet.

But I would like to think that I'm getting there.

Working on my fitness

 "I'll be up on the gym just working on my fitness.."

Fergie (Fergalicious)

One thing I thought I would never do is join a gym. I always thought that it was for people who wanted to lose weight and, being a skinny teenager back then, I didn't need to go to one. Fast forward to ten years later... besides needing to lose unwanted fat, I was so out of shape and unhealthy that I got laughed at by grandpas and grandmas as I panted while climbing a mountain in Japan (true story).

Of course, it didn't help that I have no actual job that requires me to move my ass and I basically sit in front of my computer all day.

So when opportunity presented itself (coughGrouponcough), I decided one of the challenges I had to face this 2012 was to go to the gym.

My goals are pretty simple:

1. Lose the unwanted fat. Call me vain, but I love clothes and fashion. I love those darn pretty sleeveless dresses and those cute shorts. Then one day I realized that I spend so much money buying them when the best investment I could make is for the body underneath it. If you look good and feel good about yourself, even a cheap dress would look good on you. No need for designer stuff. (Although I still want them very very much.) This also goes for your inner spirit - inner beauty and all that. You do get the idea, right?

2. Get healthy and build up stamina. Why? Because I MUST travel this year. I feel so cooped up while my friends were out and about going places the past few years. My cousins who I am putting through college will be graduating this March and I finally have the funds so I am about to go all out! BUT in order to go all out, I have to be able to keep up with all the endless walking and carrying bags. Truth: sometimes vacations can be tiring that we need a vacation after a vacation.

3. If ever we get invaded by aliens or zombies, I can defend myself or run away. Just kidding. Sort of.

I'm on my third week now and thankfully, despite the aches I am feeling, I am still alive. Oh gosh... the stories I could tell about being a total gym noob! But I'm already feeling really well and improved, considering. Hopefully this will become a habit that I can carry on until I am as old as those grandpas and grandmas on that blasted mountain and then it'll be my turn to laugh at those out-of-shape youngsters. Haha...

And when my discounted-but-expensive-when-not gym membership expires, I will be using our condo's gym equipment for free which I FINALLY know how to use. I haven't even used it once in the six years I've been living here (IKR?). And, what do you know? It looks like I've got it all to myself. Ah! The loneliness of self-discipline.

Changes

Well I've gone and done it. 

I deleted my previous blog - "The Typecast Heroine" and merged it into this one - "Quilled Thoughts". 

My reasons? 

For one, I found that I can't maintain two blogs. Yep. One is my limit. I'm not that active to have a lot to write about. I'm doing something about that, though.

Another is that I don't really get my previous blog title. I even forgot why I picked that one. I think I just randomly picked two words and made it work. 

For the record, I'm also not that content with my current blog title, but I think it encompasses everything I can think of to write. The "quilled" part is a bit dated because, obviously, keyboard typing right now. I picked it because the word sounds like "quelled" which means quieted, but change one letter and it becomes public... written for everyone to see - which is the purpose of a blog, anyway.

So, to anyone who have ventured to my new blog, welcome. (And to my previous four followers, I hope that you somehow found your way back here. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

2012 a go go GO!

Random Eats II

My friend and I ate a Banoffe cake at Sweet Bella at Burgos Circle, The Fort while waiting for my other friend's birthday cake. We only ordered a small one because we were in a hurry. Hope we can go back there again and try more of their cakes and pastries. 

I am seriously turning out to be a dessert otaku.

A lot like Christmas...

I've finally finished decorating for Christmas. Shopping for it? Well, that's a different matter.

My theme this year was supposed to be handmade, but I ended up buying most of the gifts, as usual. But I did D.I.Y. some of the decorations this year.

I got the Merry Christmas bunting flags from the Ruffled blog. I just printed them out and cut little lines and threaded a measuring tape through it. I love the results, even though it doesn't look very Christmas-y.

A lot is going on in this picture. First the teacup which is from Japan Home Center. I bought it just because I loved the way it looked. Haha... The "Have a Wonderful Life" is by Papemelroti. Remember that store? When I was in high school, almost all my gifts to my classmates were from there. There's a yellow fabric ball at the right side which I made (more on that later) and the flower shaped thing is just an empty tissue roll which I pasted together. I'm still not sure what to do with it yet, but I'm leaving it as is for now. I might decide to paint it gold or whatever.

 

The pastel-colored tissue pom pom balls I made myself thanks to some tutorials I found in the internet. It's really easy to do, surprisingly. I just stuck some barbecue sticks and tied some green fabric on the base and put them on a vintage pink pitcher I had lying around. The photo props I printed, cut, and pasted are from Oh Happy Day. We turn into such photo whores during the holidays. LOL

Isn't the bunny cute? Little tip. I got this at Watsons last year. They sell stuff toys there too! But during December it's so expensive so you don't really want to buy one. But after the holidays, the prices suddenly drop! I think I got this for less than a hundred pesos! So you could say I started my Christmas shopping as soon as Christmas ended. It's so fluffy (!!!) that I wanted it for myself but I think I'm too old for this (huhu...) and stuffed toys + asthmatic kid me doesn't really mesh well. Sad.

I had a vision for this and I really don't know if I executed it well enough. It's basically four frames which contents I usually change depending on the mood (more on that later). I cut four squares of watercolor paper from my pad and painted them yellow, blue, red, and green. After that, I cut out the words using an Xacto knife (and a small Swiss army knife when I got tired) then put Christmas wrapping paper as backing. I still think it needs improvement but I'll let this one go for now and maybe improve on the design idea next year.

The coffee table. Not much happening here except where I randomly stuck some of the leftover Christmas flowers on a green glass pitcher. Yes, I have a lot of pitchers at home which I don't use for what it is actually supposed to be used for. LOL. Check out my collection! DVD box sets of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and BtVS (of course!), plus the romance novels (if you read them, then you can recognize what it is from the spines) and the remote controls! Yay! Haha... The stack of magazines are Yummy magazines (even if I don't cook) and decorating books.

Our only Christmas cushion cover. It's very glitter-y so I don't really like it much. Some of it gets stuck on you when you handle it. Oh well, it's just for a month.

Extra! I'm loving my current nail polish. Very holiday-ish. This was actually supposed to be a gift for someone but I changed my mind on what to give her and then I got bored and painted my nails. Haha...

And... ending this post with one my favorite wrapped presents for my Ninang. I love the Tiffany blue, silvery wrapper plus the red ribbon.

Now it really feels like Christmas season already. :)

Brown paper packages tied up with strings...

I love brown paper. Whenever I buy something and get a brown paper bag packaging, I try my best not to get any stain on them and hoard them like a shopaholic hoards groupons. I just knew that I would be able to use them someday.

Well, that day finally came. 

It was really a no-brainer. I needed to wrap some presents for Christmas when I came upon a weird shaped object. I was too lazy to make a paper bag (and too cheap to buy one!) for it when I spied my stack of brown paper packages. Lightbulb! I put the gift inside the ready-made bag from a certain bookstore then put a strip of paper and doily to cover the logo and voila! Instant wrapped present!

Some of the paper bags I had were too big so I cut them down flat just like I would a wrapping paper. Felt really proud because I was recycling as well as making really pretty and creative gift wrapping. I ever prefer it than regular Christmas wraps!

So before you throw away those paper bags, why don't you try making use of them? Just hoard some of those ribbons you get from past gifts or even old shoelaces, etc. and tie them up with a paper flower as a topper. It will surely end up as one of your favorite things too.

Bed Romance

This is kinda embarrassing, but I think I have one heck of a girly bedroom. It's not all pink, but it's kinda - for a lack of a term - princess-y. I would argue that it's not really my fault, because I hired an interior decorator to make my bedroom and I wasn't there the whole time to approve of everything. I wanted a relaxed, romantic, vintage-y type of room so I guess it is quite close to what I said. I still love the look that makes you feel like you're sleeping underneath a blooming cherry blossom / sakura tree... but the brass four-poster bed (shown without the matching white gauze curtains) was maybe a little too much.

 Sleeping Beauty's bed? LOL

It has its pros... For one thing, it was raised very high and there was a lot of space below for plastic storage boxes (seen on the photos) and in case of earthquakes, you can hide beneath it (hopefully I don't need to do this). I also hang a lot on the curved designs/brackets of the headboard, like ponytail holders, cloth headbands, necklaces, bags, etc. I also used to hang clothes on the bars when I take photos to sell them online.

Wall mural (yes, it's not wallpaper!)

But... I felt like the bars above gathered dust that trickled down to me. It was also a space-eater - physically and visually. You can't get from one side of the room to the other because the footboard blocked you from just vaulting over.

Work in progress... I sat on the cushion as I watched my computer monitor.

Slept like this while the bed was being done... not bad, actually.

I wanted to change it or modify it for years. I finally got around to it last month and I am absolutely loving it. Now I can see more of the mural behind the bed and I get an unobstructed view to my computer monitor from my bed - which, added to my bluetooth mouse means more laid-back viewing! Yay!

Finished product!

Now that my bed is done, my next step would be to shop for a new closet, which is harder than anticipated. And also, expensive! Sigh. Why isn't there an Ikea here in the Philippines yet?